A trial lawyer, turned standup comedian and Baptist minister, Rev. Susan Sparks is America’s only female comedian with a pulpit. After ten years as a lawyer moonlighting as a standup, she left her practice and spent two years on a solo trip around the world, including working with Mother Teresa’s mission in Calcutta, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and driving the Alaska Highway. Upon returning home, she entered Union Theological Seminary in New York City where she earned a Master of Divinity and wrote an honors thesis on humor and religion.

Currently, the Senior Pastor of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City (and the first woman in its 165 year history), Susan has been featured in O (The Oprah Magazine), The New York Times, on CBS The Early Show, ABC and CNN, and in numerous comedy clubs, including Carolines in New York City. Her book, Laugh Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor, was named one of the best spirituality books of 2010 and has sold close to 15,000 copies.

Entries by Rev. Susan Sparks

I grew up with the whitest Jesus you have ever seen. A Vitamin D deficient, sickly looking Jesus; a sort of Don Knotts meets Gary Busey kind of Jesus. And he was always pictured in the same way: standing in a field, holding a tiny lamb (also pasty white). Not...

When I want to remind myself of the power of prayer, I go to the Astor Place Kmart in the East Village of Manhattan. Sure, I could read Kierkegaard or Augustine, but I prefer the Kmart. Specifically I favor an area in the far...

Many probably think I'm on a slippery slope to hell. I drink beer, I dance, and God help me, I'm a Baptist minister. However, it's not the Stella Artois or tango lessons that are greasing my downward slide. The real shocker? My belief that online gaming may revive organized religion.

One third of the U.S. Supreme Court justices are women, more than 50 female astronauts have traveled into space and 41 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize. But place a woman in a pulpit and blood pressure and eyebrows immediately begin to rise -- rise, that is, within the...

A Rabbi, a Muslim, and a Baptist preacher walk into a room. (Rim shot!) Yes, it is the setup for a joke, but not like you expect. Comedian/Rabbi Bob Alper, Muslim comic Azhar Usman, and myself, an ex-lawyer, turned Baptist minister and standup comedian are taking the stage for the...